Handbook / 4
Before you start
An arb lives for seconds. Everything that can be ready in advance has to be: accounts, money on them, Pulse set up.
El Capone · six years doing arbs, runs support in the members chatUpdated 6 Nov 2026
First timeDon’t do your first arb with your last money, and don’t rush it. Take a small amount, pick a pre-match arb with time to spare, and go through the whole thing calmly. The first goal isn’t to make money, it’s to not get the mechanics wrong.
An arb lives for seconds (rarely over a minute, when a bookmaker has made an obvious mistake). In pre-match sometimes longer, but never forever. If, when it shows up, you don’t have an account on one of the venues or there’s no money on it, you just watch the profit leave. So everything gets ready in advance.
Checklist before your first arb
- Accounts on several venues. Two at the very least, better 4–5. The more venues, the more arbs you can play. How to register: Venues.
- Money already on the accounts. Not “I’ll top up in time”, it’s sitting there right now. Deposits sometimes take minutes. An arb won’t wait that long.
- Bankroll spread across venues. If all your money is on one venue, you can’t place the second leg on another. Keep a balance on every one you play.
- Pulse open and set up. Your real stake set, only the venues where you have an account and money ticked. See Filters.
- A crypto wallet ready if you play crypto venues and prediction markets, with a little extra for gas.
How much money you need to start
To start and learn, a deposit of $20–50 on each bookmaker or market is plenty. Once you feel confident, deposit more, keeping your risk under control. The bigger the amount, the bigger the profit, but the bigger the risks too.